Divine Assignment!! 2007/12 09/02/07
Listen and heed before we start the lesson, for this is just a small preliminary. We see the words, Let they who have ears to hear, hear what the Spirit speaks. Let me give you the most accurate translation that we can find;
“He who has the Anointing, let him now understand with the wisdom found in that Anointing”.
The Amplified has it this way: “He who has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him consider and perceive and comprehend by hearing.”
There is a lot to hear in what follows, and God has an assignment for each one of us and it is, in this case the same assignment, and that is what our time is about today. I will share with you exactly what has been in my heart starting with the lesson we had on ‘unity’, and followed by ‘intercession’. The lesson that we have today is along the same line but is the one where we are under construction, and what we are being built into. I want to start with an OT verse that is a “step” in the right direction. Turn to Psalm 37:23;
“The steps of a [good] man are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in his way [and He busies Himself with his every step].”
This is a great verse, but when you look at it, and meditate on it, and have walked with the Lord even a short while, you must be aware, that not only are the steps directed or ordered by the Lord, but be sure that He will also direct, or order our stops as well. As it declares, the doors that God opens, no man can shut and the ones that He shuts, no man can open.
I think the reason why the Lord chose this verse to begin with, is that the focal point is in the ‘steps’. We are heading today in the direction of our walk with the Lord and a walk is a progression of steps, and maybe some stops as well. There are several verses that I want to add as we begin on this journey, and we start with one that we have had many times, but now with another theme.
2 Pet. 1:2-3
“May grace (God’s favor) and peace (which is perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity and freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in [the full, personal, precise, and correct] knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.
For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue).”
Put these two verses in your memory bank and keep them there, for they are the foundation for the rest of this lesson, because life and godliness are part of this call and He has told us that His power has bestowed (pt) all needed to move into this dimension. Now let me direct you to John 1:12 and put before you something to think about for a moment.
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the sons* of God, to those who believe on His name.”
*sons is the word used in the original translation
This is where our walk begins and I want to take you over to Ephesians 4:1, where Paul has just finished, in Chapter 3, speaking of the power of love that is working in us and then goes right into vs. 1 saying; “I Therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to and beg you to walk (lead a life) worthy of the [divine] calling to which you have been called [with behavior that is a credit to the summons to God’s service.”
Look at the word ‘walk’ first and understand that in the scriptures the word means the activities and processes involved in your daily life. It is an ongoing process, but does not have the physical action normally given to its meaning. We’ll come back to this in a while, but lets go on and look at the word ‘calling’. It here is speaking of God’s divine assignment on your life and His path for you to function in. He has a particular position for you to inhabit in this call, which we are all in life headed for. Remember, you have all the things pertaining to life and godliness, NOW!!
Just a moment ago we looked at John 1:12 and we used the word ‘power’ there, which is from the greek word ‘exousia’ meaning authority. If you were to go through many footnotes as I did, you would note something interesting. You would find some verses that are footnoted to the one used, use the word power from the greek word ‘dunamis’ and another would be ‘kratos’. Let me give you the three as they fit together so that you will come to understand that God left nothing out needed for you journey,
Exousia – Authority or right to accomplish an assignment [sons]
Dunamis – The power to enforce the authority given above
Kratos – The power of endurance to last through the former two.
I want to let you in on something now, and that is that we are dealing with a full house, and not the kind used in a poker game, this one is God’s full house and it is found in Col. 2:9-10, remembering all things pertaining to life and godliness. Sound redundant? Well it is and it will be again, so lets go to our verses.
“For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature].
And you are, in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – to reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power]”.
I have taken long enough to get around to where we are headed for today, so let me tell you in a nutshell what the divine calling that God has placed upon each of us is. Mature, Adult Sonship! Nothing less and nothing more. That is the beginning point and maybe even the ending point, because it is a big step or walk but He provided all we need to move into that dimension, including lessons given by the Teacher [Holy Spirit] Who continually abides in each of us and is our Teacher as 1 John 2:27 assures us and He is always leading us into the Truth. Lets go one step further and look at Ephesians 4:12-13;
“His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church),
[That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.”
There may be just a hint why we had the lessons on unity and intercession in the sequence given and this one ties to them. The things that He gave us that pertain to life and godliness were given to bring us into the perfection of Jesus Christ. I believe that we should take just a swing by the words “full equipping” for a moment. The greek word used for equipping is one that pertains to surgery, to setting a broken limb, to put it back in place, or it was also used in the political realm for bringing opposing parties back together, to function for the good of the people and not to be broken apart.
He, in these portions, beckons to us, to reach the full height of Christ’s perfection, the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ (anointing) and the completeness found in Him. That may sound like an overwhelming order, but He never gave us any direction that we could not, in Him, achieve. Go to Eph. 1:17b-18;
“…that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him.
By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set apart ones),
And I add several other verses [vss 19&20]
And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength,
Which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places].”
I added the other two verses because we need to understand that when we are called to sonship, then we must have the completeness found in Him to achieve that position. We already are sons of God, but we are in training to function in that place, to become what we already are. We have all His power working in us because we already have the fullness of Him abiding in us, and we are told by Paul in Romans 8:11, that if the Spirit of Him, Who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, then He will also quicken our mortal bodies to life as well. Lets go on reading from Rom. 8:12-14:
“So then, brethren, we are debtors, but not to the flesh [we are not obligated to our carnal nature], to live [a life ruled by the standards set up by the dictates] of the flesh.
For if you live according to [the dictates of] the flesh, you will surely die. But if through the power of the Holy Spirit you are [habitually] putting to death (making extinct, deadening) the [evil] deeds prompted by the body, you shall [really and genuinely] live forever.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
I believe that we should stop here for a second and take stock of what we have in Christ. We have all of what He has and are joint heirs with Him as well. We have power, mercy, compassion, and we have His mind, with wisdom and consecration, We have, by His blood redemption and santification, and in Him we are made the righteousness of God. He sent the Holy Spirit, Whom we also have who is the Spirit of Truth, the One Who teaches us all things and points us to Jesus. We have the peace of God that Jesus gave us all the gifts of the Spirit, Love, Joy, Peace and Patience, with Gentleness, Kindness, Self-Control and Faithfulness. That is a full house and that is what we have in Him. Now let us think on this;
Speaking of the walk that we read in Ephesians, look at Colossians 1:9-13:
“For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make [special request for you, [asking] that you may be filled with the full (deep and clear) knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom [in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God] and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things—
That you may walk (live and conduct yourselves) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, and desiring to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God [with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance and recognition].
We [pray] that you may be invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, [to exercise] very kind of endurance and patience (perseverance and forbearance) with joy.
Giving thanks to the Father Who has qualified (pt) and made us fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints (God’s holy people) in the Light.
[The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”
The prayer that Paul prayed for the Ephesians is very similar in content, and they both align with Peter’s statement that we read at the beginning, and which I now read again:
“My grace (God’s favor) and peace (which is perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity, and freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in [the full, personal, precise, and correct] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”
Now, I think I need to tell you that none of this is going to come by way of our intellect, or our talent. It is only going to come through quiet meditation on God’s word and allowing God’s Holy Spirit to work this Most Redemptive Revelation into you. God is now in the process, in these the last of days, raising up a family of sons that will be the front line of His will and His ways, and His heart is already hearing the whole of creation as Rom. 8:16-19;
“The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are the children of God.
And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also; heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory. [share the trials and tests that He endured]
[But what of that?] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (this present life) are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred on us!
For [even the whole] creation (all nature) waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God’s sons to be made known [waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their * sonship].”
Look at verse 22
“We know that the whole creation [of irrational creatures] has been moaning together in the pains of labor until now.”
Note: The disclosing of their maturity and their adulthood, their conformation to the character of God and of Christ Jesus.
As I was well into this lesson in thought and deed (meditation and writing) I had something come from a prophetic source and let me read you a portion of that which fits exactly into what we are doing;